Updates to the Dolby.io Virtual Worlds plugin for Unreal Engine (1.1.0) - Added support for Unreal Engine 5.2, native Apple Silicon, and Ubuntu 20.04 and later. Additionally, the plugin now supports screen sharing, device management, simplified video rendering, muting remote participants, and selecting the preferred spatial audio style and video forwarding strategy.

Dolby.io Virtual Worlds plugin for Unreal Engine

1.1.0

Features

• Added support for Unreal Engine 5.2. We recommend using the 5.2 build for versions 5.0 and 5.1 as well.

• Added native Apple Silicon support.

• Added support for Ubuntu 20.04 and later.

• The plugin now supports screen sharing.

  • Added new Start Screenshare, Stop Screenshare, and Change Screenshare Parameters methods that allow the local participant to share their screen.

  • Added On Screenshare Started and On Screenshare Stopped events which are triggered when a user starts/stops their screen share. You can use the track ID provided by these events to receive your own screen share. This works only in the conference.

• Added On Video Enabled and On Video Disabled events which are triggered when a user enables/disables their local video feed. You can use the track ID provided by these events to get a preview of the video. This works out of the conference as well.

• Simplified video rendering by introducing the Bind Material and Unbind Material functions.

• Added the Get Participants function.

• Added new Mute Participant and Unmute Participant functions that allow the local participant to mute selected remote participants.

• The plugin now supports device management:

  • Added the following device management functions:

    • Get Audio Input Devices
    • Get Audio Output Devices
    • Set Audio Input Device
    • Set Audio Output Device
    • Get Current Audio Input Device
    • Get Current Audio Output Device
    • Get Video Devices

  • Added the following device management events:

    • On Audio Input Devices Received
    • On Audio Output Devices Received
    • On Current Audio Input Device Changed
    • On Current Audio Output Device Changed
    • On Current Audio Input Device Received
    • On Current Audio Output Device Received
    • On Video Devices Received

• The plugin now allows connecting to a conference as either a regular listener or a Real-time Streaming (RTS) listener. Regular listeners receive one mixed audio stream from a conference and one video stream from each participant who uses a camera. RTS listeners receive only one mixed audio stream and one mixed video stream from a conference. To connect a participant as a listener, call the Connect function and set the Connection Mode parameter to a desired value. Not setting the parameter results in connecting the participant as an active user.

• Improved the Spatial Audio feature by adding a new Spatial Audio Style parameter to the Connect function. The parameter defines how the spatial location is communicated between the SDK and the Dolby.io server. You can either use the individual, shared, or disabled style:

  • In the individual style, positions are not shared between participants, so each participant sets the positions of all participants and hears a unique spatial audio scene.

  • In the default shared style, one spatial audio scene is shared by all participants who hear audio from their locations. This approach is ideal for shared spaces, such as virtual trade shows or games. The additional benefit of this style is simplified communication between the client and the server and decreased network traffic.

• Added the Set Remote Player Location function for use when the spatial audio style is set to individual.

• Added support for choosing a video forwarding strategy when connecting to a conference and added related events: On Video Track Enabled and On Video Track Disabled.

• Added the Set Log Settings function that allows users to get detailed logs about the plugin’s operation.

• Dolby.io Subsystem’s functions are now available as standalone Blueprint library functions, which makes them available in Blueprints without any reference to the subsystem itself. These functions are asynchronous wherever applicable, which makes it possible to design Blueprints without breaking up the flow using event handlers.

• Added a sample actor that simplifies getting started with using the plugin.

• Added sample material and planes that simplify getting started with video and screen sharing.

• Added a sample menu showcasing a simple user interface implementation, primarily for screen share customization and device management.

• Added the following tutorials that explain how to use some of the plugin's features:

  • Common Tutorial Setup
  • Camera Preview
  • Rendering Remote Video
  • Screen Share Preview
  • Rendering Remote Screen Share
  • Device Management
  • Game Instance Usage
  • Using the Plugin with C++

Breaking Changes

• The On Connected event now returns the conference ID. This change is not backward-compatible and will require users of version 1.0 to align their Blueprints.

• The On Video Track Added and On Video Track Removed events now return complete information about the video track instead of just the participant ID. This change is not backward-compatible and will require users of version 1.0 to align their Blueprints.

Changes

• The Connect function now takes additional parameters: Connection Mode, Spatial Audio Style, Max Video Streams, and Video Forwarding Strategy.

• The Enable Video function now takes a video device as a parameter. Not providing a device means enabling video streaming from the default video device.

• The plugin now ensures that the On Video Track Added event is never triggered before the On Participant Added event for any given participant.

• Redesigned the Blueprint nodes documentation to make it more readable and complete.

• The On Disconnected event is now only triggered as a result of calling Disconnect. Notifications about being disconnected by other means will be available in a later release.

Bug Fixes

• Improved video stability. In particular, fixed crashes related to video resolution changes.

• Fixed an issue where the plugin could not be loaded if it was placed in a path that contained UTF-8 characters.